Wisconsin’s Kohl Center is a terrible place to visit, especially for a team in quest of its first Big Ten triumph. The Badgers added to Northwestern’s woes Wednesday night, flaunting their home-court supremacy in league play with a 69-50 victory.
For the Badgers (4-2 in the Big Ten and 14-4 overall), the victory was their 20th in their last 21 league games and their 11th in a row in the Kohl Center. For the Wildcats, the loss left them 0-6 in the conference and 8-9 overall.
“We did some nice things defensively to take away their strengths,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “I thought we did a good job on each possession, making them have to work hard for their shots. Maybe three or four times out of 60 possessions they got a pass in the lane for an easy basket.
“Offensively I wanted us to get some shots early.”
Freshman forward Alando Tucker’s three-point basket instigated a 18-5 run that gave the Badgers a 24-11 lead with 5 minutes 21 seconds elapsed and they stayed in firm control thereafter. Sophomore guard Devin Harris hit a three-point shot and parlayed a pair of steals into fast-break layups on the run.
“We wanted to take out their heart right away, and that’s what we did,” Harris said. “We kept it steady and played our game.”
In the first half, junior guard Jitim Young did his best to keep the game from becoming a runaway by scoring 14 points for the Wildcats, who trailed 35-25 at the break. But after sinking six of his eight field-goal attempts in the first half, Young missed all three of his second half-shots and his only three points came on free throws.
“Being down by [only] 10 at the half was a surprise because I think they completely outplayed us on both ends of the court,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “In the second half it was pretty much the same. They were faster and quicker. It seemed like every loose ball or tip they came up with.
“The only guy to get in the game in the first half was Jitim. He was aggressive and he kept us in the game. The second half? What do you want from one guy? He was getting tired.”
During the second half, NU’s senior center Aaron Jennings collected 10 of his 13 points before fouling out with 6:01 remaining. But it was a case of too little too late.
The statistics reflect the one-sided character of the contest. Wisconsin outshot the Wildcats 48 percent to 33 percent and outrebounded them 42-21. Seventeen of the winner’s rebounds came on the offensive end, while NU was able to come up with a meager five offensive boards.
Wisconsin’s Kirk Penney scored a game-high 18 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds.
“You have one of the premier guys in the league in Penney,” Carmody said. “He does what he wants. He makes their other guys better.”
